Washing machine on the loading door of which is mounted an electrically operated component

ABSTRACT

An improvement in washing machines having an electrically operated device mounted on the loading door is disclosed, more particularly in a washing machine comprising a drying device blowing hot air inside the tub thereof. The improvement essentially consists in that the electric connecting cables as a sheaf, by which the said device is connected to the machine main controls, are fastened for a certain length to the mobile part of the hinge, on which the loading door is pivoted, and leave it in a direction essentially parallel to the pin of the hinge, whereby the cables are prevented from repeatedly undergoing bending stresses as originated from the opening and closure of said loading door.

United States Patent Busoni 1 1 1 May 13, 1975 1 1 WASHING MACHINE ON THE LOADING 2.442.451 6/1948 Alhin 312 223 x DOOR 0F MOUNTED 532533? 3/1323 ii l 174/1510 9 v as up ELECTR'CALU OPERATED COMPONENT 3,151,905 10/1964 Reuther et a1, 11 174 152 0 ux [75] Inventor: Luciano Busoni, La Spezia, Italy [73] Assignee: San Giorgio Elettrodomestici S.p.A..

La Spezia, Italy [22] Filed: June 7, 1973 [21] Appl. No: 367,948

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 20, 1972 Italy 30747/72 [52] U.S. Cl. 312/223; 49/167; 68/20; 134/95; 134/107; l74/D1G. 9; 174/D1Gv 135; 312/138 R [51] Int. Cl. A471) 81/00; H05k 5/03; D06f 39/14 [58] Field 01 Search 174/135, 152 G, DIG. 9; 220/32; 49/70, 167, 334; 312/138 R, 223; 134/57 D, 58 D, 95, 102, 107, 200; 68/3 R, 13 R,20, 196,212

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,328,256 8/1943 Breckenridge 68/20 X Primary Examiner-Billy J. Wilhite Assistant Examiner-Philip R. Coe

Attorney, Agent, or FirmDiller, Brown, Ramik & Wight [57] ABSTRACT An improvement in washing machines having an electrically operated device mounted on the loading door is disclosed, more particularly in a washing machine comprising a drying device blowing hot air inside the tub thereof. The improvement essentially consists in that the electric connecting cables as a sheaf, by which the said device is connected to the machine main controls, are fastened for a certain length to the mobile part of the hinge, on which the loading door is pivoted, and leave it in a direction essentially parallel to the pin of the hinge, whereby the cables are prevented from repeatedly undergoing bending stresses as originated from the opening and closure of said loading door.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATEMEU 1m 1 3:975

SHEEI 105 2 PATENIEO HAY] 3!.975

SHEET 2 BF 2 WASHING MACHINE ON THE LOADING DOOR OF WHICH IS MOUNTED AN ELECTRICALLY OPERATED COMPONENT The present invention relates in general to a washing machine provided with an electrically operated component mounted on its loading door. In the example described and illustrated hereinafter. this electrically operated component consists of a drying device which blows hot air inside the tank-basket assembly of the machine.

The drying device. consisting generally of an electric fan, a heating resistance and other control components, is mounted on the outside of the loading door and is protected by a suitably shaped metal housing also fixed to the door.

The drying device fixed to the door implies the need for electrical connection between the various elements of the device and the internal controls of the washing machine. This problem arises in the more general sense each time electrically operated components are placed on the door of the washing machine.

If the above connections are made by means of a cable which starts outside the door and then passes into the inside of the machine, the opening and closing movements of the door subject the external portion of the cable (connected mechanically between a mobile and a fixed part) to undesirable bending stresses which in time (as the conductors are inextensible) can cause the conductors to break or their insulating covering to deteriorate. with serious danger to the user.

In addition, an external connection evidently damages the appearance of the machine.

The main object of the invention is to provide a machine of the aforementioned type in which the sheaf of electric cables which connect the electrically operated component to the centralised machine controls is practically unsubjected to bending during the opening and closing movements of the door, and furthermore is entirely within the machine, or otherwise protected in a reliable manner.

This object is attained according to the invention by a washing machine in which a portion of said sheaf of electric cables is fastened to the mobile part of the hinge on which the loading door of the machine is piv oted, and abandons said mobile part in the proximity of its pivot of rotation for at least a certain length parallel to this latter.

Preferably but not necessarily, said electric cables are maintained against said mobile part of the hinge by means of a sheath of plastics material.

Anchored to the mobile part of the hinge. the cables penetrate inside the housing of the washing machine as far as the pivot of rotation. which in the limit, but not necessarily, could be longitudinally bored in order to receive the cables.

By this method the bending stress on the sheaf of conductors is eliminated. The only stress to which the cable is subjected is a slight torsion in its practically vertical descending portion between its exit from the hinge and its anchoring in the upper inside part of the housing.

This and further characteristics. objects and advantages of the invention will be more evident from an examination of the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG, 1 is a partially sectional vertical view showing the loading door ofa machine constructed according to the invention, in the open position;

FIGv 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but with the loading door in the closed position;

FIG. 3 is a section on the line III-Ill of FIG. 2.

The drawings show the front wall 1 of a housing of a washing machine in which there is an inward aperture 2 for loading and unloading the washing, provided with a door 3. A fan 4, schematically shown, is mounted on the door 3 and is arranged to blow hot air inside the machine.

The door 3 is mounted on the machine housing by a hinge. Said hinge comprises two flanges 6, 7, which are fixed and mobile, respectively, and are coupled together by a fixed pin or pivot 8. The flange 6 consists of an angular plate 9 fixed by means of bolts 10 and nuts 11 to the housing of the machine and carrying the fixed pin 8.

The flange 7 consists of a true flange 12 extending ra dially from the pin 8 and able to rotate about it, and a cylinder portion 13 rigid with the flange l2 and sub stantially coaxial to the pin 8. The cylinder portion 13 passes through two slots 14, 15, formed respectively in the plate 9 and wall 1 of the machine housing, and terminates in a rim 16 on which the door 3 is fixed by bolts 17. A retention band 19 of plastics material is mounted on the cylinder portion 13 of the hinge by an insertion joint 18 and the same bolts 17, by way of a plate 20. Said band 19 together with the cylindner portion I3 forms a narrow interspace 21 through which, according to the invention, the sheaf of electric cables 22 which connect the dryer 4 to the machine controls is passed, the cables also passing through an aperture 23 in the door 3. In this manner the band 19 keeps the sheaf of cables 22 rigid with the mobile portion I3 of the hinge so that it rotates together with it without being subjected to any bending. This is because the distance between the pin 8 and frame of the door 3 through which the sheaf of cables passes is the same for any position of the door. The only stress to which the sheaf of cables is subjected is a torsion stress, which however can be made negligible and in any case not damaging, as the other point of anchorage of the cables may be formed fairly distant from the hinge. This can be easily understood as the sheaf of cables leaves the mobile portion 13 of the hinge in a direction substantially parallel to the pin 8.

The invention thus attains the aforementioned object of eliminating the bending stresses in the sheaf of electric cables, and also confers further important aesthetic and safety advantages. In fact, the cables pass to the inside of the machine without disfiguring the appearance of the housing and without being able to be reached by the user during operation of the machinev Although one embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, experts of the art will realise that modifications may be made to it. For example the cables could be passed through a hollow pivot. or the band I9 could be continued to the inside of the frame of the door 3, without leaving the scope of the invention which is defined only by the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. A machine comprising a housing. an opening in said housing, a door. a hinge mounting said door for movement between a position closing said opening and an open position. said hinge including a hinge pin fixedly carried by said housing and a hinge flange pivotally carried by said hinge pin and fixedly secured to said door. at least one electric cable extending from said door and along said hinge flange to a point adjacent said hinge pin, and retaining means carried by said hinge flange for retaining said electric cable adjacent said hinge flange.

2. The machine of claim 1 wherein said electric cable exits from said hinge flange parallel to said hinge pin.

3. The machine fo claim 2 wherein said hinge pin is disposed within said housing.

4. The machine of claim 1 wherein said hinge pin is disposed within said housing, said hinge further includ ing a fixed hinge flange fixedly secured to said housing and supporting said hinge pin, aligned openings in said housing and said flxed hinge flange, and said pivotally mounted hinge flange together with said electric cable and said retaining means extending through said aligned openings.

5. The machine of claim 4 wherein said pivotally mounted hinge flange includes a generally part cylindrical intermediate portion.

6. The machine of claim 1 wherein said machine is a washing machine, said door is a loading door, an electrically operated component carried by said door, and said electric cable being connected to said component.

7. The machine of claim 1 wherein said retaining means is a band of plastic material.

8. The machine of claim 1 wherein said retaining means is a band of plastics material secured to said hinge flange at one end at said door and at an opposite end adjacent said hinge pin. 

1. A machine comprising a housing, an opening in said housing, a door, a hinge mounting said door for movement between a position closing said opening and an open position, said hinge including a hinge pin fixedly carried by said housing and a hinge flange pivotally carried by said hinge pin and fixedly secured to said door, at least one electric cable extending from said door and along said hinge flange to a point adjacent said hinge pin, and retaining means carried by said hinge flange for retaining said electric cable adjacent said hinge flange.
 2. The machine of claim 1 wherein said electric cable exits from said hinge flange parallel to said hinge pin.
 3. The machine fo claim 2 wherein said hinge pin is disposed within said housing.
 4. The machine of claim 1 wherein said hinge pin is disposed within said housing, said hinge further including a fixed hinge flange fixedly secured to said housing and supporting said hinge pin, aligned openings in said housing and said fixed hinge flange, and said pivotally mounted hinge flange together with said electric cable and said retaining means extending through said aligned openings.
 5. The machine of claim 4 wherein said pivotally mounted hinge flange includes a generally part cylindrical intermediate portion.
 6. The machine of claim 1 wherein said machine is a washing machine, said door is a loading door, an electrically operated component carried by said door, and said electric cable being connected to said component.
 7. The machine of claim 1 wherein said retaining means is a band of plastic material.
 8. The machine of claim 1 wherein said retaining means is a band of plastics material secured to said hinge flange at one end at said door and at an opposite end adjacent said hinge pin. 